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Frankenstein
Frankenstein is a classic novel published in 1818 and written by Mary Shelley. Author Mary Shelley (Born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin) was born August 30th, 1797 and died February, 1st 1851. Her mother, Mary Woolstonecraft who died several days after her birth was a feminist philosopher and writer, and her father, William Godwin, raised Mary throughout her childhood and was also a writer. http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/shelleybio.html She married a poet named Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1816. Shelley wrote dozens of novels, short stories, children's literature, travel narratives, essays, biographies, and poems. Her most famous work is "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" which was first published in 1818.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_by_Mary_Shelley Summary Frankenstein is told in a series of letters written by Robert Walton to his sister. Walton, who is on an expedition in the North Pole, recounts the story of Victor Frankenstein whom he finds trapped on the ice. Frankenstein relates the story of how he came to be there. Frankenstein starts off by narrating his childhood and how he came to be interested in the secret of life. Then Frankenstein tells of how he came to create a creature and the consequences of that decision. He tells of how he got sick and regretted creating the creature. Soon after Frankenstein falls ill, he plans to go home. However, he learns that his brother has been murdered and he becomes convinced that the creature has done it. After a girl in the Frankenstein household has been wrongly accused of the murder, Frankenstein decides to retire to the mountains to deal with his greif. In the mountains the creature appears, admits to murdering Frankenstein's brother and asks Frankenstein to creature a comapnion for him. At first Frankenstein refuses, but the creature convinces him to and he heads to England to gather information on creating a female creature. Frankenstein starts on the creation of the second creature, but soon stops because he doubts the morality of his actions. Frankenstein destroys the second creature and the first decides to get revenge. Soon after, Frankenstein finds that his best friend, Henry Clerval, has been murdered. Soon after, Frankenstein's bride is murdered by the creature. Frankenstein then declares that he will not stop until he has gotten revenge on the creature and leaves to find him. He tracks the creature into the north, but is caught on the ice and soon after encounters Walton. Frankenstein dies soon after and the Walton encounteres the creature, who says that since his creator has died, he can now die himself. The creature then departs back onto the ice. Narrative Method Frankenstein contains multiple framed narratives. The entire story is contained within letters written from Robert Walton to his sister, and these letters contain Victor Frankenstein's story. Within Frankenstein's story is the monster's story, and the monster's story even contains some of the story of the family whose house he hid in. Frankenstein is a multiple 1st person narrative. By having multiple points of view the author gains and sustains credibility throughout the narrative. Themes Themes... Story Characters See Frankenstein Characters Adapationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_in_popular_culture thumb|300px|right|The first motion picture adapation of Frankenstein *In 1910, the First motion picture adaption is created by Edison Studios (silent film) *In 1927, the story was made into a play by Peggy Webling. *In 1931, A Universal Pictures film is made from the play (from the book). *In 1935, "The Bride Of Frankenstein", a sequel to the former film, is created utilizing the plot that Victor created a second female monster. *Dozens of additional films and televison shows are created over the next 60-70 years, becoming less and less accurate to the book, and naming the monster Frankenstein. *In 1974, "Young Frankenstein", a parody of the 1931 adaption (and all of the others) is released. It is regarded as one of the greatest comedies of all time. *In 1994, the book is adapted into a big budget film starring Robert De Niro and Helena Bonham Carter. (titled "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein") More about Frankenstein in Popular Culture Useful Links *Read Frankenstein (1818 or 1831 Version) Online *Frankensteinia: The Frankenstein Blog *More Sources